The present invention relates generally to tools for cleaning fluid nozzle orifices and, more particularly, is concerned with a tool for cleaning an orifice of a water sprinkler head while the sprinkler is operating.
Sprinkler heads frequently become clogged with debris or mineral deposits and so require periodic inspection and servicing to ensure they are in proper operating condition. A sprinkler head which is even only partially clogged will fail to broadcast and distribute water in the desired pattern. In regions of the country where water is in limited supply, partially clogged sprinkler heads can result in an inefficient, wasteful and expensive use of a valuable resource.
To ensure that sprinkler heads will be inspected and serviced in timely fashion, the maintenance procedures should be easy and convenient to carry out. However, this has not been the case up to the present time. The typical approach to unclogging a clogged sprinkler head once discovered has been to shut off the sprinkler system and then to disassemble the clogged one of the sprinkler heads in order to remove the debris. Because this approach is time-consuming and tedious, many persons will neglect to provide proper maintenance of the sprinkler heads in a timely fashion.
Many different tools for cleaning fluid nozzle orifices of various configurations appear in the prior patent art. Representative of the prior art are the tools disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. to de Luna (241,197), Brooks (1,288,495), Longstaff (1,613,230), Sturgis (2,001,635), Smith (2,156,744), Linden (2,318,696), Maitlen (2,429,581), Harwedel (2,730,469) and Johnson (3,168,799). Many of these tools might operate reasonably well and generally achieve their objectives under the limited range of operating conditions for which they were designed. However, none of these tools suggests a way to modify the typical approach to cleaning out clogged sprinkler heads so as to encourage persons to inspect and service the sprinkler heads more often.
Consequently, a need exists for a cleaning tool especially designed for making it easy and simple to the service a clogged sprinkler head.